Steps

1.
Take the kabocha squash and remove the skin and the seeds. Cut it into 2-3cm cubes. Cover them with plastic wrap and heat them up in the microwave. Once you can easily insert a toothpick into them, they are ready.

2.
With a fork or a masher, mash the kabocha squash.

3.
Mix the margarine with a whisk until it forms a whipped cream like consistency. Add in the vegetable oil, mixing well. Add in the sugar and the vanilla oil next and mix well.

4.
Add in the eggs one at a time and quickly mix them in.

5.
Combine the flours and the baking powder, sift them into the mixture from step 4 and mix. Once the batter is no longer floury, add in the kabocha squash.

6.
Once the mixture has become smooth and well mixed, the batter is done. Start heating the water in your steaming pan.

7.
Either oil your molds or line them with paper liners. Add the batter until they are 80-90% full. I used aluminum pudding cups here.

8.
Once the water is boiling, steam the batter for 15-18 minutes in the steamer. Once the middle has cooked through, they are done.

9.
I used a steamer like this (it's from the dollar store). I had the water boiling in a shallow pot, and just steamed it like this. There were no problems doing it this way.

10.

11.
This is the color of the fluffy kabocha squash. Once they have cooled, you can cover them with plastic wrap and store them. This is to keep the surface from drying out.

12.
When you open them up, they look like this. Even though the batter was not whipped they are smooth and fluffy when they are steamed. They will still be fluffy and soft the next day.

13.
This actually used to be a banana muffin recipe and one time I swapped the bananas out for kabocha squash. If you bake them in the oven though, they will be muffins. You can bake them at 180℃ for 22 minutes.

14.
You can also add any kind of jam, chocolate chips, or cream cheese and it will be delicious.

Story Behind this Recipe

When you're dealing with a brownout, or you're in a disaster struck area, you can make these... These steamed mini cakes are easily made and take almost no time. I took Recipe ID: 1203420 "Easy Banana Muffins" and swapped in pumpkin and steamed them to make something that I think is rather delicious.

Helpful Hints

You can steam the pumpkin instead of microwaving it. I just used a regular steaming net to steam these in a pot with no problem. The height of steamers varies, so if that is the case, just use a frying pan instead of a pot and you will be fine. Don't let the margarine reach room temp, so leave it in the fridge until right before you make these.